By Thompson ABISOLA
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, would join other speakers to address energy infrastructure deficiency in Sub-Sahara Africa at the Africa Oil and Gas Summit in Kenya.
The Convener of the summit, Mr Oladeji Olawale, said at a news conference on the summit in Lagos on Wednesday.
The conference, tagged, “Sub-Sahara Africa Oil, Gas and Energy Summit, (SSAOGES 2018)“ is billed to hold October in Nairobi, Kenya.
He said Kachikwu had confirmed his participation, adding that he would address experts on prospects of investing in those critical sectors.
The convener said key operators in the Sub-Sahara oil, gas and energy industry were preparing to congregate to find answers to decades of lack of clear policy in the sector.
Olawale said the operators would also find direction among governments in Africa to support deployment of key infrastructures to harness its abundant energy resources.
He said stakeholders in the industry were now looking at ways to see that adequate energy supply would be produced.
This, he said would help to support the projections by United Nations that Africa’s population would hit 2.3 billion by 2050.
Olawale said stakeholders were also looking at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), projections that the continent with average 6.5 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.
He said to achieve this, an energy summit, was being put together to build effective multi-stakeholder partnerships, particularly with private sector across Sub-Sahara Africa.
According to him, the planned event will help to facilitate needed investments into the oil and gas industries and explore possibilities of the gas revolution in the region.
Olawale underscored the importance of the summit, stressing that when put the projections of the UN and IMF side by side, it showed that Africa had a lot to do to achieve economic prosperity and energy efficiency.
“With increasing population growth become increase in demand for energy. Africa as a continent, though with enough energy reserves to serve its teeming population does not have the infrastructure to produce enough energy to meet the continents need.
“This scenario will only get worse if urgent steps are not taken to ensure energy efficiency,” he said.
Olawale further explained that the summit was organised around presentations, panel discussions and breakaway sessions evaluating identified themes bothering on oil and gas and energy infrastructure in Sub-Sahara Africa.
He said it would also help to evaluate the penetration of the oil and gas industry into various parts of the economy, foster and build inter regional partnerships.
The convener said summit would also focused on cooperation among nations in the Sub-Sahara Africa, explore and create better connections between the gas industry and other domestic sectors.
“The forum is expected to open honest conversations among stakeholders, policy makers, infrastructure development financiers and international oil companies.
“Others include national companies, power generating companies, renewable energy and power distribution companies with the goal of fashioning out efficient ways to begin to develop the needed infrastructure for the energy of the future.“
